Following intervention by Iraqi embassy | Kidnappers release Iraqi civilians in Homs city

Homs province: A gang of kidnappers released an Iraqi civilian, after having been kidnapped nearly 20 days ago in Al-Abbasiyah neighbourhood adjacent to Al-Bayadah neighbourhood in Homs city.

The Iraqi civilian was released after direct intervention by the Iraqi embassy in Syria, where the kidnappers had asked for a ransom of an estimated 500,000 USD in return for his release.

According to SOHR sources, the civilian was in a visit in Syria to marry a girl of a Lebanese father and a Syrian mother.

It is worth noting that the neighbourhood where the incident happened is inhabited by Shiite residents supported by the Lebanese Hezbollah.

SOHR activists have reported that gangs of kidnappers are numerous and active in Homs city and the southern, western and northern countryside; this, in turn, poses a threat to the safety and lives of Syrian and non-Syrian civilians, especially with the escalating kidnaps by those gangs, some of which are backed by Hezbollah and protected by the heads of some security branches.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry issued a statement announcing the release of the civilian, after having been kidnapped in Homs city, which is controlled by the Syrian regime, where he headed from Basra province to Syria in order to marry a Lebanese girl of a Syrian mother.

Yesterday, SOHR sources reported that a group of Turkey Al-Ebaid Family in Wady Khalid area on borders between Syria and Lebanon detained 12 people from villages and towns of northern Homs countryside, after a young man was arrested in Homs a few days ago.

SOHR activists confirmed that contact was lost with a group of residents of northern Homs countryside, while trying to reach Lebanese territory before it was revealed that they were detained by members of the family of the young man “Osama”, who were asked to pay a ransom of 400,000 USDs.

The family of the young man accused one of the gangs of Talbiseh City of “kidnapping the young man.”